It consists of meat (usually thinly sliced beef) which is slowly cooked or simmered at the table, alongside vegetables and other ingredients, in a shallow iron pot in a mixture of soy sauce, sugar, and mirin.

Thinly sliced beef is usually used for sukiyaki, although in the past, in certain parts of the country (notably Hokkaidō and Niigata) pork was also popular.

Popular ingredients cooked with the beef are: Boiled wheat udon or mochi (rice-cakes) are sometimes added, usually at the end to soak up the broth.

In the Kanto style, warishita (a mixture of sake, soy sauce, sugar, mirin and dashi) is poured and heated in a pot, then meat, vegetables and other ingredients are added and simmered together.

Other ingredients added to modern sukiyaki include chicken (tori-suki), fish (uo-suki or oki-suki), udon noodles (udon-suki), negi, shiitake mushrooms, shirataki and slightly grilled tofu.

In both styles, raw eggs are used as a dipping sauce and steamed rice with black sesame seeds is served.

[1] One theory for the origin of the name is that it derives from the words suki (鋤), which means spade, and yaki (焼き), which is the verb "to grill".

[3] The 1961 song "Ue wo Muite Arukō" was given the alternative title "Sukiyaki" so that it could be short and recognizably Japanese in English-speaking countries.